Georgia on brink of SEC East title

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Georgia is on the brink of completing animprobable comeback, from 0-2 to the SEC championship game. The No. 13 Bulldogs (8-2, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) canclinch the Eastern Division title and a spot in the championshipgame in Atlanta by beating Kentucky on Saturday. If Kentucky beats Georgia, South Carolina would win the East ina tiebreaker. Mark Richt knows the key for Georgia's eight-game winning streakis turnovers. Georgia has not lost the turnover margin in the winning streak.It ranks second in the SEC, behind LSU, with a plus-nine turnovermargin. Turnovers also are a key for Joker Phillips' Kentucky team. TheWildcats (4-6, 1-5) have struggled in the SEC this year, but theyare 7-1 under Phillips when they win the turnover margin. The Bulldogs are coming off their most impressive win, a 45-7romp over No. 24 Auburn. "We never lost confidence in ourselves, our teammates or ourcoaches," said quarterback Aaron Murray. "We've just beenchipping away, chipping away and we gained confidence." Georgia has beaten Tennessee, Florida and Auburn in the sameseason for the first time since 1981, but the Bulldogs must stretchtheir winning streak to nine for a spot in the SEC championshipgame. Turnovers were the difference when Kentucky beat Georgia inAthens in 2009. Kentucky scored 14 points off Georgia's four second-halfturnovers to beat the Bulldogs 34-27 for their first win in Athenssince 1977. Georgia had a 487-260 advantage in total yards but wasdoomed by its minus-4 turnover margin. "Certainly, two years ago we were up by 14 I think at half andturned it over four times in the second half," Richt said. "Itdidn't help us at all." The 2009 home loss to Kentucky was part of a downturn in theGeorgia program that continued with a 6-7 finish in 2010, includinga Liberty Bowl loss to Central Florida. "It was tough coming off of that losing season, especiallyafter that loss in the bowl game," said senior tight end AronWhite. "We did have some great seniors on that team and to havethem come through and be a part of some great teams and then fallto that low point last year, it hurt us as a class to see thoseguys who were mentors to us and became our brothers go out and kindof have that memory of the end of their senior year. "We talked about it early on in team meetings about that's notgoing to be us. We're not going to be that team. That's not whatGeorgia is about." The losing record left Richt on the hot seat, and the pressurepicked up when Georgia opened this season with losses to BoiseState and South Carolina. Even while others were pointing out Georgia's weaknesses anddoubting Richt's future as the Bulldogs' coach, Richt spoke withconfidence that this could be a special team. Richt's confidence has been rewarded. Georgia ranks fourth inthe nation in total defense. The defense is led by Jarvis Jones,who is third in the nation with 10 sacks, and Bacarri Rambo, who issecond in the nation with seven interceptions. "We're doing things that good defenses do," Richt said."We're stopping the run most of the time, we're big up front,we're very physical, we play hard and we've been causing a lot offumbles." The offense is balanced, with freshman tailback Isaiah Crowellrunning for 821 yards despite being suspended for one game. Murray,a sophomore, has set a team record with 27 touchdown passes,topping Matthew Stafford's 25 in 2008. Georgia's senior day provides a reminder that this is a youngteam. Georgia has three senior starters on its offensive line -center Ben Jones, left tackle Cordy Glenn and right tackle JustinAnderson - but almost all of its top skill position players areunderclassmen. Cornerback Brandon Boykin and defensive end DeAngelo Tyson arethe only senior starters on defense. Kentucky is trying to protect its slim bowl hopes and bounceback from a 38-8 loss at Vanderbilt. Phillips said Thursday Kentucky will be missing two defensivestarters, linebacker Ridge Wilson and safety Martavius Neloms. Wilson injured his shoulder against Mississippi two weeks agoand missed the loss to Vanderbilt. Neloms left the Vanderbilt gamewith a high ankle sprain. "We're beat up, banged up, but got to go," Phillips said. The good news late in the week was Phillips announcement thatlinebacker Winston Guy (shoulder) is expected to start. Offensive guard Stuart Hines said Kentucky can salvage itsseason by beating Georgia and Tennessee. "If we come out of those on the winning end, it's going to be areal season saver for us," Hines said. "We've had tough timesthroughout the whole season. We had a couple of games where we weredoing better. Then we had the game at Vandy where we fell off alittle bit. So we're looking to get back on track and we can stillsave the season and make something out of it."

Tuesday's Wildcat LinksBASKETBALLkentuckysports.com: Harrison twins are clutch playersukathletics.com: Cauley-Stein named 25th consensus All-AmericanNation of Blue: Calipari talks about Final Four with Shannon SpakeUSA Today: sports psychologist helps Calipari learn about his playersSI.com: UK is heavy favorite but not a lock to win it allSportingNews: Calipari not the villain in postgame comments about NDSI.com: storylines for UK-Wisconsin rematchNextCats: Ingram has in-home visit set with CalipariNextCats...

Monday's Wildcat LinksBASKETBALLESPN/Ian O'Connor: Cats pass last major hurdleUSA Today: UK-Notre Dame was sports perfectionNBCSports: UK-Wisconsin is the rematch we deserved to seeFt. Wayne News-Sentinel: UK is what is right about college basketballZagsblog: Draft Express moves Towns to #1Nation of Blue: UK-Notre Dame set a TV ratings recordUK Basketball Live: watch a replay of UK-ND w/ UK Radio Network callsNextCats: Brown, Zimmerman, Newman in no hurry to make decisionsphoto courtesy Victoria Graff

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